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LIFE & LEISURE
48 Issue 563. July 2014
Feel like
Squabbling?
A squabble a day keeps dementia
at bay says the brainchild of a new
mind game taking New Zealand
by storm.
Words: Sam Harrison
Julia Banks never had a shy personality, and there is no
reason to assume that her retirement years would be any
different.
For a woman whose professional background includes
leading an accomplished covers band performing all the
hits from the Andrews Sisters’ stellar career, Julia’s creative
energies found new direction the day she stumbled upon
Squabbles; the game that has come to define her current,
cosy Auckland lifestyle.
“Yes, Squabbles has become a big part of our lives
since 2012 when, finding Scrabble rather stultifying and
Bananagrams a bit banal, I decided to try for a whole new
word game,” Julia says.
Although she concedes that the game is largely geared
towards older audiences as “a great way to have a laugh
while keeping the mind active, engaging with others and
keeping the dreaded dementia at
bay”, younger generations have
taken to Squabbles as well.
The game’s success has taken
Julia, a member of the Howick
Combined Probus Club, NZ, on a
whirlwind promotional tour. Riding
off of this success she has managed
to find commercial interest in the
product and has partnered with veteran jigsaw puzzle
manufacturer Holdson Games of New Zealand. A London-
based games company will also be making Squabbles under
licence for the UK/Europe market.
The success of Squabbles illustrates that the now booming
gaming industry is more diverse than one might first think.
Despite the exponential growth of digital gaming in recent
years, there is clearly still room in the market for analogue
entertainment like Squabbles.
Grand Theft Auto, one of the most popular video games
of all time, recently took in over $1 billion within its first
three days on the market. When presented with these
comparisons Julia is unperturbed.
“The wonderful difference with a game such as Squabbles
is that you can have the thrill of the battle face-to-face with
those you wish to defeat! You can watch their reactions as
you make your move and see at a glance how you are shaping
up against them and how they are coping with that.”
Ultimately, Squabbles is selling intimacy, the kind of
intimacy that digital devices seem to be eroding. Face-to-
face interaction and shared experience are the bedrock of
any society, and that’s why the figures on digital gaming
may be cause for concern. There is now a generation of
youth who have never known a
world without the internet and
digital media. Attracting them to
a game that can’t be played online
or shared through Facebook is
no small task, but Julia remains
confident Squabbles has what it
takes to win them over.
“Digital games are feeding
exactly the same desire to challenge ourselves as any
traditional game does. I wanted Squabbles to be a game
where winning relies half on skill/strategy and half on good
old-fashioned luck. I wanted to squeeze in the most intense
interactive fun I could, while giving everyone a good brain
workout – and I think by George I’ve got it!”
One thing is certain; if playing Squabbles is as contagious
as Julia’s enthusiasm, then 2014 could be a renaissance
year for fun family word games. Julia herself puts it best.
“This will be an exciting new step for a game from
Howick, Auckland, and at 70 years of age I suddenly feel
like a proud mother with her baby about to hit the big time
–
who knows!?” 
Julia Banks with her beloved Squabbles.
Photo Wayne Martin – Times Newspapers Ltd, Auckland.
“I wanted to squeeze
in the most intense
interactive fun I could,
while giving everyone a
good brain workout.”